There’s a slightly higher risk than usual that you will have a seizure during labour or in the first 24 hours after giving birth. This happens to one or two in every hundred women with epilepsy who give birth. There are a number of possible reasons why seizures are more likely to occur. Here are some examples.
- Feeling stressed or tired during and after the birth.
- Not taking your anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) as usual throughout your labour.
- Vomitting, which may stop your body from absorbing your AEDs.
- Having drugs during labour, such as pethidine, which may trigger seizures.
When you are in labour, you could ask your midwife or companion to help you to remember to take your AEDs at your usual time.
In the days and months after you have given birth, there will be lots of physical and hormonal changes in your body. These changes may affect your seizure control and you might have more or fewer seizures. You might also have more side-effects from your AEDs, if your medication was increased during your pregnancy or you were prescribed an extra AED.
If you do have more seizures, or experience side-effects from your AEDs, ask your family doctor or epilepsy specialist to review your epilepsy and medication.
We can provide references and information on the source material we use to write our epilepsy advice and information pages. Please contact our Epilepsy Helpline by email at helpline@epilepsy.org.uk.
This information has been produced under the terms of The Information Standard.
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Updated January 2011To be reviewed January 2013
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Love this information file 'Caring for your baby when you have epilepsy guide' PDF. lots of our questions answered and some useful tips on how to manage and how to keep your baby safe. Read this if you are pregnant for the first time and your have epilepsy.